It's one of those things techno-weenie fanboys of one carrier vs others like to lord over others, using massive smugness. It's also something Verizon & Sprint users who've never had it before won't miss... and, lastly it's something that matters not when one has wifi available.

1) on the phone + check traffic
2) on the phone + get directions
3) on the phone + check movie options
4) on the phone + make open table reservation
5) on the phone + look a question up on the web
6) on the phone + receive/quick reply to email

Obviously, plenty of people don't use smartphones as phones nowadays so it'll only affect the minority that still uses up minutes.

This is a big negative for me.... although I wasn't planning on upgrading from my AT&T iPhone 4. Still looks brand new and I don't need Siri.

It's one of those things techno-weenie fanboys of one carrier vs others like to lord over others, using massive smugness. It's also something Verizon & Sprint users who've never had it before won't miss... and, lastly it's something that matters not when one has wifi available.

MEH.

actually the thunderbolt and various other lte devices can do it both on lte and 3g.

After reading the macrumors article I get it. As Apple always does its thinking ahead. Apple is not behind it's the 4G LTE technology not being able to carry voice yet. So I'm assuming that in 2years and LTE carries voice if one has a iPhone 5 they would be good to go?

This would suck! Let's HOPE it was just some typical un-informed Verizon PR Rep that "confirmed" this.....

In my opinion, the simultaneous voice & data is overrated. When I left AT&T some years back and joined either Sprint or Verizon (I can't remember which), I thought that I would miss out by not having that feature even though I had never needed to talk & surf at the same time. Well, when I made the switch, my fears were wrong and I realized that not having that feature didn't interfere whatsoever with how I use my phone/smartphone. Not once have I needed to simultaneously talk & surf while on 3G and that is usually when I'm away from home. When I'm at home, I'm normally on Wi-Fi and we all know that we can talk & surf while on Wi-Fi. Still, I understand that the ability to simultaneously talk & surf is a deal breaker to some, but it's a non-issue for me.

So because you don't use it that means nobody uses it? Clearly you said they never had it so they wont miss it, which I proved you wrong as both sprint and verizon lte devices have been able to do it over 3g. Great reading comprehension....

After reading the macrumors article I get it. As Apple always does its thinking ahead. Apple is not behind it's the 4G LTE technology not being able to carry voice yet. So I'm assuming that in 2years and LTE carries voice if one has a iPhone 5 they would be good to go?

This will all go away when voice over LTE deploys... the cellular version of voice over IP... and it is being worked on.

So because you don't use it that means nobody uses it? Clearly you said they never had it so they wont miss it, which I proved you wrong as both sprint and verizon lte devices have been able to do it over 3g. Great reading comprehension....

dude... you proved me wrong about nothing. Sorry that it escapes you that the people who don't have the ability to talk&surf now on the equipment they have will not miss what they don't have right now. The fact that some people can with other equipment is irrelevant, no matter how hard you try to say it is. When it comes to reading comp, you are far less well off than you accuse me of being. right back at you.

dude... you proved me wrong about nothing. Sorry that it escapes you that the people who don't have the ability to talk&surf now on the equipment they have will not miss what they don't have right now. The fact that some people can with other equipment is irrelevant, no matter how hard you try to say it is. When it comes to reading comp, you are far less well off than you accuse me of being. right back at you.

Really is it that big of a deal? If you're Already using a iPhone 4 or 4S, you should be used to it. I'm not saying it wouldn't be a nice thing to do those simultaneously, but I wouldn't go as far as saying its a dealbreaker.

That is one of the most absurd things I have ever heard. Apple eliminated the dual radios to make it super thin. Not to mention, by the time voice over LTE is widespread enough to call it useful, we'll be seeing the iphone 7 or 8 introduced anyhow. So, you're saying Apple did this because they are so advanced. So advanced that they built it for a network that doesn't exist? Yeah, that's great. the iphone 5 is a massive fail.